


A Change of Heart at The Trash Can

by cheerilyEerie, gummyrubi



Category: Yu-Gi-Oh! GX
Genre: Ace judai strikes again, Alternate Universe - Coffee Shops & Cafés, Alternate Universe - College/University, Coffee, Gen, M/M, Meet-Cute, Shenanigans, This Is Why We Can't Have Nice Things, barista johan, judai really doesn't like coffee, meet ugly, ryou deserves a break, spiritshipping, the shenanigans are fubuki's fault, until he does
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-24
Updated: 2018-05-24
Packaged: 2019-05-13 04:02:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,120
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14741642
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cheerilyEerie/pseuds/cheerilyEerie, https://archiveofourown.org/users/gummyrubi/pseuds/gummyrubi
Summary: Asuka drags Judai to a coffee shop called The Trash Can and, although he doesn't like coffee, maybe the pretty barista behind the counter can change his mind.





	A Change of Heart at The Trash Can

"Asuka, it's too early for me to be awake right now," Judai grumbled as he let himself be pulled along by the happy blond. It wouldn't have been so bad if he was out on his motorcycle, but he didn't have enough money for gas at the moment. Asuka had offered him some money for it, but he decided he wasn't awake enough to ride it, so they were better off just walking. Judai preferred to walk, anyway.

"It's two in the afternoon, Judai." Asuka shut him down, the two of them walking down the street to some unknown destination, "It won't hurt you to get out every once in a while.”

Wind whipped around them, making the sun's spring heat feel a little less hostile than usual. The high pollen count kept many people indoors today, and Judai had been planning on being one of them, but Asuka knocking on his front door threw those plans out the window.

"I was up all night playing Duel Links; I can't help it."

Asuka rolled her eyes, "Then the coffee shop I'm taking you to will be just what you need."

"Is that where we're going?" Judai crossed his arms over his chest, side-eyeing her, "You know I don't even like coffee."

"Yeah, I know; you've pretty much pointed this out to me every time I offer you a sip of whatever I'm drinking." To be fair, she _did_ consume an abnormal amount of coffee daily, but could anyone blame her? Coffee was probably the only thing that kept her skeleton vertical most days; honors classes and a part-time job be damned, "But today, we're going to find a drink you like!"

Although his apartment wasn't especially far away from the restaurant district, the brunette wasn't expecting for them to come to a stop as quickly as they did.

Brown eyes looked up at the sign hanging atop the building, eyebrows knitting together. "The _Trash Can_? Really?" He looked back and forth between the sign and his smiling friend, " _This_ is where you bring me?"

Asuka gave a particularly rough yank to his hand as she continued toward the door, bluntly responding, "Ignore the name; we're going in."

Judai's skeptic brown eyes zeroed in on the trash bags— _no_ , they were leather ( _pleather_?) couches, shiny and black, right inside the front door; two people sat on it, happily chatting while they drank out of cups that looked more whipped cream than anything else.

Asuka swore under her breath, "Not again."

When he looked again, the cups looked like little trash cans with mug handles. Despite the fact that the shop was literally called _The Trash Can_ , the interior design didn't actually look all that bad. The furniture, shelves, and tables looked normal unless you stared long enough to realize where the inspiration came from; even the flooring looked like plain concrete despite feeling like smooth tile.

"This... isn't what I expected," Judai admitted as he and Asuka walked over to the line behind the counter. He was hesitant here, out of his element—but he didn't want to be rude and just walk back out the door.

"Okay, so don't sweat the design; it pretty much changes every other week. Just believe me when I say that the coffee here is so good that you won't think of the word the same way after this." The blonde declared, pulling a sticky notepad and a pen from her purse. She jotted something down on the top note that practically took up all of the space on it, and then pulled it off to stick onto Judai's shoulder.

Judai scanned over the sticky note after he pulled it off his shirt, eyes widening when he saw how many things were written on it. "All this for one drink?"

"Yup! It'll be great; trust me." Asuka looked confident in her assurance, but Judai didn't feel any better about ordering this much for just one drink.

"I don't even know what all this is."

"You don't have to because the _barista_ will be the one making it." She playfully shoved him when she noticed his face. They moved a little with the line, "Judai, you're acting like I just told you to offer up your firstborn; it's just coffee."

The brunette recoiled slightly from the shove, mouthing an insincere _ow_ at her with a grin before letting his eyes wander around the store again. There was a glass case full of sweets and sandwiches on the right side of the counter they were lined up at. Several machines sat near side-by-side to the left of where the cash register and cashier were, white puffs of steam rising every minute or two and dissipating into the air. As fascinated as he was by this, his ear twitched at the unexpectedly familiar sound of a grunt coming from the pastry case. He instantly turned and called out in confusion, "Hey, is that Ryo??"

Asuka followed his line of sight and she waved a hand around, "Hey, Ryo! I wasn't sure you'd be working today." The man in question lifted his gaze from the pasty case and gave a small wave, quickly wiping his other hand on his apron before anyone could see the jelly he accidentally smeared on himself—it was such a pretty pastry, too; _fuck_.

He briefly muttered something, presumably at the barista behind the register, although they were hidden by all the people in front of Judai so he didn't see who they were. Ryo made his way out from behind the counter and walked over to them. He looked tired, bringing a hand up to his face and dragging it down. "I'm always here; you know this is my personal hell."

Judai blinked and opened his mouth to respond, but Asuka cut him off, "Don't let my brother hear you say that."

"Don't invoke him; you know he'll show up." Ryo finally looked at Judai, "I didn't know you liked coffee?"

"I don't." His response was instant because he felt like he'd been saying it forever by now; Asuka wasn't the only one of his friends that'd been trying to convert him to this religious coffee cult. He could see the glare Asuka was giving him from the corner of his eye, but decided not to acknowledge it and to smile, "So, why _The Trash Can_?"

A pinched expression found itself on Ryo's face; the man suddenly looked weighed down by every regret in his life. And so, he began the spiel he ran through at least once a day, "Why not? The owner of this unfortunately popular shop is _Fubuki_." He gave Judai a pointed look because he knew him, too, but he never knew what Asuka's brother was up to (and maybe it was best that way), "He likes to change the name on a whim, usually reverting back to _The Trash Can_ after a couple of cycles. He claims he wants this coffee shop to be unique and memorable to make people want to come and _see what's new_ ," this last part was inflected as if Fubuki were the one saying it, with that overly-cheery way he liked to talk, "He doesn't like things being stagnant and boring." Ryo crossed his arms over his chest, sighing deeply.

Judai got the impression that he was staring at a man who'd seen Hell and wasn't afraid to glare back into it.

"He also likes to be a huge pain in my ass and make it his personal mission to ruin my life."

"Aww, Ryo; you were doing so well, until that last bit!" Came a frivolous voice from behind the poor employee. One of Ryo's eyes visibly twitched before tan hands clamped onto his shoulders and Asuka's older brother peeked out at them while pressing his cheek into his best friend's, "Oh, Asuka; good morning!"

Ryo elbowed Fubuki in the gut and put some space between them, barking in irritation, " _You're too close!!_ "

Asuka rolled her eyes again, already done with her brother who doubled over and rubbed at his stomach. "Sexual harassment aside, it's not even morning."

"Oh, really?" Fubuki glanced around the establishment until he noticed a clock ticking away above the entrance and that it was early afternoon. "I've been up for like 48 hours, so I'm having a little trouble telling the passage of time." He shrugged, grinning, as he hopped out from behind Ryo, dodging that elbow of his, and went over to Judai, putting an arm around his shoulder to pull him in close. "Has my beautiful sister finally tempted you into the dark side? We have delicious coffee."

Asuka jabbed him in the side—purposely aiming near the same spot Ryo hit earlier—causing him to yelp and let go of Judai, choosing instead to hide behind Ryo again.

The younger brunette laughed when he was released, but found his eyes wandering again as he tuned out his three friends' arguing. It looked like the line had decided to move along without them, so there was only one older customer left when he turned his attention back again.

With all the dark colors in the shop, an appealing shade of thick teal hair caught his eye and instantly took his attention. The barista standing behind the counter had the usual retail smile that everyone in the business had to keep on their faces, but his light emerald eyes made him look so tired.

' _Maybe he didn't get a lot of sleep last night...?_ ' Judai hazarded a mental guess, pressing his lips together into a sympathetic half-smile, ' _I wonder if he's running on coffee fumes at this point._ '

He watched as a to-go cup for hot coffee was handed off to a young lady, and then the gangly older man in front of him shuffled up to the counter.

An awkward smile was plastered onto his thin, sweaty face as gray eyes focused completely on the young man at the register. His hands were shaking as his left reached into his pocket, likely to fish out his wallet, and his right smoothed greasy, black bangs back over his ear, "Good afternoon, Johan; I'll have my usual."

The barista, who Judai assumed was named Johan, visibly shivered and then stiffened. The retail smile he wore looked less tired and more strained, like he was trying to keep his work persona in place. He quickly grabbed a medium hot cup from off to his right and then jotted down the drink's recipe in shorthand on one side, then put a big X on the opposite side, "One caramel macchiato for Mr. X."

"THAT'S—!" The customer automatically barked but stopped and calmed himself when he noticed the barista jump in surprise, "I-I mean, that's _Dr. X;_ I didn't get a PhD so I could keep being called _Mister_."

Johan hesitantly smiled again, deciding not to comment on this information as he punched in the order on the cash register and then motioned toward the price, "That'll be $5.47."

The customer's sleazy smile turned even greasier, "Ah, my dear Johan, that seems to be more than last time I was here?" It was nearly a dollar more, in fact.

The blue-haired barista offered his most guileless smile, "Well, we aren't a chain store and our manager is the one who raises the prices, so we can compete with the chain coffee shops around town." He tried to sound apologetic enough that the customer would leave things at that, but the man spoke up again.

"And you don't think a cutie like you could give his favorite regular a discount?" The customer, that Johan knew was a lawyer due to how often he tried to use his career as a way to catch his interest, made the barista's customer service smile deflate a tiny bit.

"I'm… sorry; I have no control over the pricing." Johan shifted his weight from one foot to the other, trying to subtlety get a little further from him.

The customer’s own smile widened, "Then, how about you give me your number to make up for this?"

Johan took half a step back, eyes covertly trying to lock eyes with either Ryo or Fubuki, who were too busy chatting with the pretty blond girl and her companion to notice his situation.

"Sorry, Sir; my number isn't included in this transaction."

The customer winked at him, "Come now, Johan, I think we know each other well enough that we can drop formalities between us, no? _Doctor_ will suffice."

The barista felt bile rise up in his throat, but he swallowed it down.

Having been standing close enough to hear their entire exchange, Judai felt himself cringe; what a disgusting old guy!

He walked up next to him and tapped his shoulder, ignoring the instant scowl that crossed Dr. X's pale face when his attention was taken from Johan, "Hey, there's a line back here and _some people_ have places to be." He folded his arms after speaking, tapping a foot impatiently for emphasis.

"Ex _cuse_ me?" The elder asked, offended, "I'll have you know that—"

" _Tick, tock_ , Old Man!" Judai leaned forward, raising an eyebrow, "Are you paying, or not?"

Dr. X growled at having been interrupted, but grudgingly dished out the dollars and exact change for the drink, "Take it!"

Johan quickly took the money and put it in the register before hurrying to make the drink. Without bothering to look back over his shoulder at Judai, the lawyer slunk off to the bar where drinks were left and called out for when done. Judai smiled triumphantly as he unfolded his arms and slid them into his jean pockets.

As soon as the drink was ready, he called out for Dr. X and practically ran away from the bar, back to the cash register.

Johan discreetly took in a deep breath, then smiled warmly at the customer who actually stepped up to help him get out of that uncomfortable situation. It was a rare occurrence. "Thank you. You didn't have to step in, though; I'm used to it."

Judai frowned, "You shouldn't have to _be_ used to that kind of thing. Creeps like that need to stop."

"I wish." ‘ _Because I only seem to attract old, creepy guys, especially when I’m at work and can't outright curse them out for being creepy but, c'est la vie.’_ "Anyway, welcome to _The Trash Can_ ; what would you like today?"

It took Judai a second to realize he was standing in front of the register before he blinked, "Oh, right! I have this sticky note," he pulled the pink note off his shoulder, hesitantly handing it to Johan, "I'm not sure what all this is, but my friend Asuka recommended it."

Johan took the note, light emerald eyes scanning over the complicated order. _'Oh, he knows Asuka! Which means he must be a good person,'_ Johan thought, looking over the list. He chuckled when he realized this was Asuka's regular drink, "I can make this, but are you sure this is what you want?"

Judai shrugged, "I'm not even a fan of coffee; I don't know what I'm doing here."

Johan bit his lower lip, lowering the note onto the counter, "How about I make you something a little different, as a thank you for stepping in earlier?"

Brown eyes looked at Johan, then at the note, then back. "Yeah, alright; I trust you." He picked up the note and threw it into the nearby trash.

Johan nodded, "Are you allergic to anything?"

"Nope."

"Do you like chocolate?"

"I love chocolate."

"What's your milk preference?"

"I'm cool with anything."

"Perfect."

Judai moved to pull out his wallet, but Johan raised a hand to stop him, "Don't worry about it. It's on me."

Judai frowned. "Wait, are you sure?"

"It's a thank you drink! No charge."

"Well, ok, great! Thanks," he smiled at him.

"Can I get your name?"

"It's Judai."

"Right. Jyu...daaaiii..." He sounded out his name while writing it on the medium hot cup, and then wandered off behind the bar to get to work on the drink.

The brunette smiled, intrigued, as he briefly watched as two different bottled syrups were pumped into the cup, and then Johan turned to a big silver machine that completely blocked any further viewing. Again, he looked around for a place to stand, and then decided to approach the bar he'd seen that weirdo wait at earlier.

There were shelves against the wall on the inside of the bar that displayed different types of coffee beans in small, colorful bags and decorative mugs (like the trash can one from before). He grinned in amusement at this, having still not gotten over the name of the business.

"Alright!" Came the nice barista's voice, retaking Judai's attention as a lid was pressed onto the to-go hot coffee cup, "One café caramocha for Judai!" Johan was holding it out to him, still smiling appreciatively.

Judai didn't notice when he smiled back and reached out to take the cup, "Café caramocha? So... Caramel, chocolate coffee?"

"Well, yeah; the caramel just sweetens it, since you said you weren't a real fan of coffee." The blue-haired employee shrugged, "And it's more like flavored milk, anyway, so..."

As Johan simplified what the drink was made up of, Judai warily took a sip of the drink. Of course, it was hot, so it stung his tongue for a moment, but the flavor... His eyes widened in surprise; this wasn't bad at all! His smile widened further in excitement, which put a stop to Johan's explanation.

"So... what do you think?"

"It's delicious!! What do you do to this stuff?" Judai asked animatedly, recklessly taking another swig. He winced, having forgotten about the temperature, but laughed at himself.

Johan laughed along in empathy, "Give it some time to cool down! The secret is that we pretty much steam the milk to Hell; it's practically not milk anymore."

With his attention off of his burning tongue and back on the other guy, Judai noticed how tired he looked again; the bags under those pretty green eyes were suddenly noticeable.

"You seem tired." His voice was soft, not trying to be rude or anything to the pretty barista.

Johan sighed, bringing a hand up to rake through his hair. "Some customers are more draining than others."

"Have you taken your break yet?"

"I haven't, actually; we've been busy lately."

Judai grinned, "Then, why don't you take a break right now? I think you deserve it."

"Do I?" Johan grinned back.

"—And that's why you should avoid the color purple around armadillos after midnight," came the tail end of Fubuki's conversation as he, Ryo, and Asuka approached Johan and Judai at the bar.

There weren't any other people in line and all the other customers were enjoying their drinks and treats, sitting around the garbage-themed shop. Ryo pinched the bridge of his nose, already starting to feel a migraine forming. For some reason, those tended to happen a lot around Fubuki.

"I don't know why I'm even friends with you."

"Because we grew up together and you couldn't bear to leave my side once we reached adulthood," Fubuki easily replied, wrapping an arm around Ryo's shoulder and laughing when the other shrugged him off.

Asuka shook her head, "He'd have a restraining order set against you if it weren't for our parents."

It was at this point she finally noticed she was standing next to Judai, who was watching the three of them along with Johan behind the counter. Her hazel eyes zeroed in on the drink in Judai's hand, seeing him easily sipping from it.

"Oh, you got the drink." She reached for it, taking it from him before he could protest, and took a sip of it, expecting it to be the drink she jotted down on the sticky note. She frowned, staring at it. "This isn't what I told you to get."

Judai took back the drink, clicking his tongue, "Your sticky note scared me, so Johan made me something else."

The blonde raised an eyebrow in mild surprise as she turned her gaze onto Johan, "That was nice of you... but Judai doesn't like just _any_ coffee, so I wanted him to tr—"

She trailed off when she noticed Judai pop off the coffee lid from his cup and down the remainder of it like it was soda from a can.

Blinking in shock, she was sputtered for moment, "You—that’s—...Coffee?? You're _drinking coffee_??"

Once the cup was empty, Judai looked down into the cup, as though making sure he hadn't missed any of the sweet liquid, before looking back at his friend, "Yeah, and it was actually really great!"

Ryo, having been familiar with the brunette's usual aversion to coffee, tilted his head toward Johan and asked curiously, "What'd you make for him?"

Johan shrugged, "Café caramocha. Most of our customers that don't usually like coffee like it, so went with a classic."

"And _that_ is why all the customers love you, Johan!" Fubuki smiled excitedly, shooting the barista behind the bar with dual finger-guns and a wink, "You know what to make for everyone, even when they don't know what they want! What a gem!"

Johan good-naturedly rolled his eyes. "Uh-huh. Sure."

Ryo smacked the back of Fubuki's head, "Quit harassing your newest employee before you make him quit, like the last one."

Judai and Johan shared twin looks of curiosity. "What happened to the previous one?"

Ryo crossed his arms over his chest, huffing, "Fubuki came here one day, covered in blood, because he _thought_ he changed the theme to a back-alley vampire club, but he _didn't_ and the new guy ran away screaming. We never heard from him again."

Judai looked at Johan, then back at Ryo and Fubuki, "Johan's made of some tough stuff; I don't think Fubuki will scare him away."

"Thanks, Judai!" Johan laughed.

"I can only hope." Ryo sighed.

Fubuki eyed Johan and Judai, a smirk spreading across his face. "Interesting."

Asuka, feeling left out of the conversation, checked her phone and frowned at it, "I have to get going now. I have a meeting with my advisor in a little bit." She looked at Judai. "You still coming with?"

Judai took another look down at his empty cup. He shyly looked at Johan as he pushed it back over the bar, "Can I get a refill?"

Johan smiled, taking the cup, "Sure."

Judai grinned at him. He thought for a bit while Johan went off to make him another café caramocha. Originally, he agreed to accompany Asuka to see her advisor today before the coffee shop, but he really didn't want to go to school, even if he wasn't going to an actual class today. "Actually, I think I'll stay here for now," he shrugged. "It's nice here."

Asuka didn't pout; she really didn't. "Alright, I'll see you guys later. Fubuki, don't provoke Ryo into killing you."

"My baby sister is so mean to me," Fubuki pretended to whine, trying to latch onto Ryo, who slipped away from him.

"I'll go check on Edo in the back." Ryo announced, turning and walking behind the counter.

"Who's Edo?" Judai watched him leave, then watched as Fubuki pouted and followed after Ryo.

Asuka opened her mouth to answer her friend's question, but Johan beat her to the punch, which made her press her lips into a thin line.

"Edo's another barista that works here, but he's working in the back right now." The taller teen motioned with a jerk of his head toward the _Employees Only_ door Ryo and Fubuki had disappeared behind, "He's supposed to be organizing our shipment of milk and stuff so that, when we run out here in the front, we know where to go to restock." His eyes and hands were busy with refilling the cup he'd taken back from Judai earlier, so he didn't notice the change in the blonde's disposition, let alone the short glare she sent him.

She shut her eyes and spun on her heel, turning her back to them, "Then I'll catch back up with you later, Judai."

"Alright; see you later!" He called from behind her as she left. Turning back to Johan, he smiled brightly as he was handed his cup back, freshly-refilled with sweet chocolatey goodness.

Edo came out of the staff room once Asuka closed the door behind her, sighing as he walked up to the other barista. He didn't even notice Judai was there, even after Johan handed him the cup. "I feel bad for Ryo, but, at this point, it's every man for himself."

Johan couldn't help but laugh, putting a hand on the silver haired barista's shoulder. "I'm sure Ryo appreciates you leaving him behind, especially when he went in to check on _you_." He teased, a mischievous glint in his eyes that Edo ignored with a slight blush. 

His sapphire eyes landed on Judai, who was staring intently at the steaming surface of his new cup of coffee like a cat waiting to pounce, "You one of Johan's friends?"

The brunette looked up from his drink to the new face asking him, only to blink in response before looking to Johan, "Uhh... Do you want me to be?"

Remembering how smoothly Judai stood up for him earlier with that creepy customer, as well as how cute his smile was both when he drank his first coffee _and_ when he received his refill, his lips stretched into a noticeably brighter grin as he nodded, "Definitely."

Edo, having turned his attention to Johan when Judai asked him to answer instead, was pleasantly surprised by the enthusiasm behind his friend's smile. Ever since the blue-haired teen moved into town, although he wasn't difficult to get along with, he seemed picky about who he could call a friend.

As far as he knew, Edo and Ryo were the only ones Johan would refer to as such so far. His mild shock melted into a soft smile as he nudged him with an elbow. "Congrats, _Newbie_! You made a new friend!"

Johan laughed and winced playfully, nudging back, "Hey! You make it sound like I'm incapable!"

"I dunno... It's been three months since you started here and you only had me and Ryo."

Judai's eyes went from focusing on Johan to Edo and back each time they spoke, but then he piped up curiously, "What about Fubuki?"

As soon as the question left his mouth, he immediately understood the answer and froze, further freezing up when Johan and Edo stared at him in disbelief. "N-no, wait; I got it." He quickly tried to recover, shrinking into himself and embarrassedly busying himself by taking the coffee cup into both of his hands and drinking it to shut himself up.

Johan pressed his lips together in an attempt to suppress his laughter, but the wide smile that tore across his face ripped his restraint to shreds, "Ahahaha!" His laughter was contagious, easily drawing Edo in, as well.

Judai looked back up at them, his discomfort vanishing at their mirth as he too began to laugh.

It was during this moment of cheer that the door opened with a chime and a few customers came in. Johan turned to Judai as the customers stared at the menu from a little ways away before making their way over to the register. "Hey, if you want to hang out at the bar, you can. I'll take my break later and we can chat more, if you want?"

Judai grinned, lifting up his drink. "I'd like that."

With that said, he went off to the side, sitting on one of the upside-down trash cans that were at the end of the bar; they seemed to replace the stools that Judai figured would be there normally.

A steady stream of customers came in, leaving Johan and Edo pretty busy behind the counter. At some point Fubuki left, waving to them with a cheer. Ryo stayed in the back room, only popping out once to speak briefly to Edo about something or another.

Judai sat at the bar, sipping at his delicious drink—he thought he found himself a go-to drink—when Edo came over.

A quick glance at the counter showed that Johan was just down to a couple more customers and he was capable enough to handle them on his own. "So, I hear Johan made you a special drink?"

Judai nodded, "Asuka wanted me to try something scary-sounding, but Johan made me something better."

"I see," Edo hummed, looking back at Johan before looking at the way Judai was on his phone, "Do you happen to like Duel Monsters, by any chance?"

Judai visibly lit up, showing his phone to Edo, which currently had the Duel Monsters game app on it. "I love it! It's so much fun!"

Edo grinned, "Good, because Johan does, too." With that, he turned around and left, not bothering to wait for a response from Judai.

It wasn't until another few minutes that Johan searched out Ryo to tell him he's going on his break.

He walked over to Judai with a grin, sitting on the other upside-down trash can at the bar, "So, I hear you like Duel Monsters?"

There was excitement between the two as they geeked out over their favorite Duel Monsters cards, as well as their personal decks and modes of play. For the next several hours until closing, Judai remained on his seat at the bar, chatting with Johan and Edo, and occasionally Ryo, throughout the day.

Asuka was texting him constantly, but Judai's responses were slow and spread-out because his attention remained on his new friend behind the bar.

From all of the random things they ended up talking about besides their favorite card game, it sounded like they had a lot in common already, and Judai could hardly contain how eager he was to spend more time with Johan.

Once six o’clock rolled finally rolled in, the workers started to clean up. The last of the customers left, and Ryo remained at the door to make sure they _actually_ left before locking the main door.

Ryo flipped the open sign to closed, and turned to look all around the coffee shop, clicking his tongue in distaste, "There's trash everywhere. Do people not understand that all these trash cans aren't _actual_ trash cans?"

"You might want to re-evaluate what you just said." Edo snorted as he and Johan finished wiping down the bar, where Judai sat because he was given permission to stay since Ryo knew Judai and Johan had spent hours talking to each other.

"I'm going to be so glad when Fubuki changes the theme again."

"Careful, he might suggest to change it to a maid café again." Edo warned, causing both Johan and Ryo to stiffen.

"A maid café? Huh?" Judai asked.

"Don't say it out loud; you'll jinx us." Ryo warned.

Johan groaned, "I really hope we don't do that theme."

Edo put a hand on Johan's shoulder. "You already get hit on enough, huh?"

"Not all of us can hide in the back." Johan returned.

Judai laughed at them, amused by the way this coffee shop was run. "I'm sure whatever Fubuki chooses next won't be so bad."

"Never trust Fubuki," the three workers chorused.

Although the others found their speaking in unison amusing, Ryo simply sighed in exhaustion. He took another look at the time via his wristwatch and then, with a big trash bag in hand, approached one of the many display-trash cans to empty it of used cups and sugar packets.

As he did so, he didn't bother looking up when he called to the others, "I got the rest of this covered already; you guys can head home."

"Don't have to tell _me_ twice!" Johan jumped instantly, removing his black apron from around his waist and over his head. He then hurried to the opposite end of the pastry case and rounded it back to the bar where Judai was ready, waiting for him.

When he looked back over his shoulder and noticed Edo with a broom and his apron still on, he called, "You coming?"

The silver-haired teen shrugged, "Nah, I'll stay and help a bit longer."

"Jeez, you're _such_ a model employee!" Johan teased, turning to face him, but still shuffling backwards toward the unlocked side door with an amused Judai, "Always making the new guy look bad, huh?"

"Get outta here already!" Even though Edo was grinning, he still raised the broom up, over his shoulder, and posed as though threatening to throw it.

"Okay, okay! See you guys tomorrow!" Johan laughed, pushing the door open with his back. Judai called a farewell to the other baristas, too, before exiting along with his new friend.

The two strolled slowly out to the parking lot, where only Ryo's recognizable silver car and a lonely, chained-up mountain bike sat.

When they approached the bike, Johan looked around the parking lot in confusion before turning his green eyes onto the brunette, "Did... you not drive here?"

"Nah, I don't live very far away, so I walked." Judai shrugged, putting his hands into the pockets of his pants.

"You came in with Asuka, didn't you? What happened to her?" He started to feel a bit bad; had he derailed a date or something?

"Oh, she had an appointment to get her hair done after meeting with her advisor and has been texting me all day." Judai pulled out his phone, unlocked it with a few taps of his thumb, and then innocently showed the mostly one-sided text conversation of her saying or asking things that he didn't really understand, "Not sure what half of this stuff means, but I had a lot more fun here at the coffee shop than I originally thought I would!"

Johan politely refrained from looking at the contents of their personal text conversation, but still decided to outright ask, "So... it wasn't supposed to be a date or anything?"

"Date? Oh, no; Asuka and I aren't like that." Judai shook his head with an unoffended smile and pocketed his phone again, "We've been friends for a few years, though, and she likes to get me out of the house as often as possible. I wouldn't say I'm a NEET or anything, but I guess I don't get out much." He was a little embarrassed to admit it, but he didn't have any reason to keep his usual nature a secret.

The blue-haired teen smiled fondly as he listened to Judai's response.

Before he knew it, he found himself leaning forward a bit to better get the other's attention again, "Well, then how about we hang out some time? Of course, you're welcome to come hang out while I'm on the clock here, but, y'know... if you wanna get together someplace else, I think it'd be really fun."

"Sounds cool!" Judai nodded with a big grin, only to snap his fingers in epiphany, "Oh! Can I get your number? We were so busy talking about everything else..."

"...that we didn't really think about it." Johan finished for him, chuckling as he fished his own phone out of his pocket.

The two locked eyes, silent, for a moment before laughing aloud.

Judai was the first to recover as he asked, "Are we just on the same wavelength or what?"

"Yeah, we totally are." Johan's eyes were still sparkling with the laughter they shared, his smile wide and bright as he handed his phone over to the other.

Judai tapped his phone number into the device, "Text me with your name when you get a chance, then."

By the time he was ready to hand the phone back, Johan had unchained his bike from the rack on the sidewalk and was already straddled over the seat.

He nodded a _thanks_ as he took the phone back and slid it safely into his pocket, "I'll do that as soon as I get home. Have a good night, Judai!"

"Yeah, catch you later, Johan!"

The brunette watched the barista ride away as he began his not-so-long walk home in the opposite direction.

He hadn't expected his visit to a coffee shop called _The Trash Can_ to end up as exciting as it did, let alone for him to end up liking a coffee drink by the middle of the day. Snippets of the conversations he had with Johan earlier came to mind as he walked, making him smile with every single memory.

He couldn't wait to meet up with his new friend again.

 

**Author's Note:**

> GUESS WHO'S BACK WITH ANOTHER SPIRITSHIPPING COLLAB???  
> IT'S BEEN 10 YEARS AND WE'RE BACK ON OUR BULLSHIT.  
> But it's ok because this coffee shop au was super fun to write!! :D :D  
> And Cheer really loves coffee lol ("Starbucks is my second home!" :D)  
> The above pic is drawn by [ Cheer!!!!](https://twitter.com/cheerilyEERIE/status/1000973233414393856) Isn't Ryo a big mood? :P   
> Come find Rubi at [twitter](https://twitter.com/gummyrubi) or [tumblr](https://chocomonki.tumblr.com)  
> Come find Cheer at [twitter](https://twitter.com/cheerilyeerie)  
> Talk to us about spiritshipping <3  
> Oh, guess what? We're making this a series >:D


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